Many describe the work of Alvar Aalto as an embodiment of the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk (a total work of art), where architecture, design, and art merge into one. The Finnish architect is a pioneer in the so-called organic strand of modern architecture in the early 20th century and has strongly influenced what we know today as Scandinavian architecture. According to a description on the MoMA website: "his work reflected a deep desire to humanize architecture through an unorthodox handling of shapes and materials that was rational and intuitive." Its methods of bringing natural light into buildings are extolled and studied repeatedly until today. But throughout Aalto's career, wood has always been present and taken many different forms. From structures to ceilings to stools, Alvar Aalto brought this natural material to the fore.
Around the 1930s, Aalto won a design contest to build the Paimio Sanatorium in southwestern Finland. At the time, tuberculosis, an extremely contagious disease, was plaguing the country, having caused the death of about 10% of the population at the beginning of the century. The sanatorium was part of a government plan to build several isolated hospitals to treat the sick. For the project, Aalto developed a building made up of several blades interconnected at angles following the landscape's topography, taking advantage of the sun and incorporating huge balconies. The project was consistent with the treatment protocol for patients, which consisted of providing good nutrition and bed rest in the early stages of the disease and then plenty of fresh air and sunshine. For this second stage, the architect decided to develop a chair to increase the comfort of patients undergoing treatment. Relatively low and long, the chair was designed with plywood sheets, which provided comfort and lightness, and allowed it to be moved and rotated towards the sun. Narrow horizontal slits cut in the headrest allowed air to circulate onto the patient's face, and the absence of padding reduced the chances of contamination. The Paimio chair continues to be sold today as an icon of design.
